Comino: no minister, we don’t believe you

In sparkling blue seas, under the Mediterranean sun, one finds the tranquil bay of Blue Lagoon. Sounds like something out of a travel brochure, right? But reality provides a stark contrast to this image.

Summer is now drawing to an end and the blue skies are fading into grey. We’ll soon forget about spending days by the sea and start vying for a space in our very limited green countryside.

But summer will once again appear brightly. And do we really believe that Comino “will be different” then, as Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo has so boldly proclaimed?

I don’t believe him. Here’s why and I sincerely hope I’m wrong.

As opposition spokesperson for lands, I will not stop piling on the pressure, even during the winter months. But will the government listen? Experience has thought us they will not… but we will not give up.

At the beginning of summer, I asked a number of parliamentary questions to Bartolo regarding the concessions or agreements for the deckchairs and umbrellas that are being put out in Comino (as well as other beaches in Malta and Gozo).

Bartolo said the information would be provided in another plenary sitting. He wanted to buy time so the summer months would pass and the media hype would die down.

But the Comino saga did not start in summer 2022.

In an opinion piece a few months ago, MEP Alfred Sant said he “fail[ed] to understand the authorities’ lack of commitment to protect the Comino environment”.

Well, it’s simple really: the government has no interest in protecting Comino.

In 2015, the Malta Tourism Authority issued a tender for a concession for deckchairs in the Blue Lagoon and Santa Marija bays to be awarded in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

By 2016, the operators were already reported to be putting out more deckchairs than allowed by the tender, as well as overcharging for them. It was reported there were nearly twice as many deckchairs on the beaches as the number stipulated in the contracts signed by the operators.

That contract laid down that in two of the areas in Blue Lagoon there could be up to 80 deckchairs while in another area there could be 70, a total of 230.

“Any infringement... is to be considered a breach of rules and may lead to rejection of the tender,” according to the tender.

While some action was taken in 2016, the saga continued well after the 2017 concessions expired. Despite repeated requests, it is still not known whether the operators have any form of agreement on putting out deckchairs and umbrellas. If there is, is it being respected?

In 2021, a parliamentary petition was presented to remove the sunbeds and umbrellas from the Blue Lagoon. Bartolo’s reply was that “Comino is not just the Blue Lagoon” and that the government was working on a sustainable plan for the island.

Minister, can we believe that this plan will be presented in 2023?

In 2020, the Environment and Resources Authority told the media it was doing capacity assessments for the islands. This should have been done four years earlier when Comino was placed under a Natura 2000 management plan. One of that plan’s major operational objectives is to prepare and implement a capacity assessment.

To date, no such assessments have been made public. Minister, how can we believe next summer will be different?

Even during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Comino still made the headlines due to crowded beaches with no social distancing measures being implemented.

In 2021, road resurfacing works on Comino were carried out without a permit. This would be a red flag anywhere but is even more dangerous in a Natura 2000 site.

Works were eventually stopped because even the authorities acknowledged the works were “not satisfactorily contained within the indicated area” and impacted on the surroundings.

Although the authority eventually green-lighted the works, following a request made by Nationalist MP Robert Cutajar, the ombudsman confirmed the works carried out were illegal. Minister, how can we believe things will change?

This apart from proposals for piers and other development, and the lack of security on Comino, all issues which have cropped up over the last few years.

As the famous quote goes, “history teaches us everything, even the future”. History has taught us not to believe the Labour government when it comes to Comino’s future.

The opposition will not stop hounding the minister to answer those parliamentary questions, which he has a duty to answer.

We will not stop pressuring Bartolo to give us a sustainable plan for Comino.

And we will continue to insist on the need for carrying capacity assessments.

The cold winter months are a good time to get cracking.

Rebekah Borg is the Nationalist Party’s spokesperson on lands and consumer rights.

Published on The Times of Malta (4th October, 2022)